tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post7180252778707618290..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Forensic backlog at DPS due to free lunches for Lubbock, other freeloader PDsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-91096125595988758192017-02-24T17:19:36.030-06:002017-02-24T17:19:36.030-06:00There are 13 DPS labs that serve Texas' 254 co...There are 13 DPS labs that serve Texas' 254 counties. Each lab has a service area that includes about 20 counties for basic lab services. The DPS Houston lab serves a 23 county area. Part of that area is Montgomery Co, which once had a lab of its own. Submitting agencies, however, preferred submitting to DPS at no cost to themselves, so that lab never had a chance as a fee-for-service facility. Harris county is also in that service area. Pasadena recently closed their lab. The agencies using that lab then had to find another option which included the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science (HCIFS - formerly the Medical Examiner's office), the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC - formerly the HPD Lab), and the DPS Houston lab. HCIFS should be providing lab services for all law enforcement in Harris county, but they told these now labless agencies that they didn't want the backlog and therefore were not welcome to submit cases there (it was more complicated than that - needed simplification for brevity). HFSC would take their cases but for a fee since their primary purpose is to act as the lab for HPD. This left DPS to receive the cases because they could not say no. Ironically, DPS is to provide services for agencies that did not otherwise have access to a lab, but these agencies had access to two labs. Ultimately the confusion was cleared and the agencies began to submit their cases to HCIFS after creating a sizable backlog at DPS. Independent labs (NMS) are now serving as backlog reduction labs for a fee. Makes sense? Agencies submit to DPS for free, and DPS has to pay another lab to cover the backlog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-82478613952167525932017-02-21T20:26:54.025-06:002017-02-21T20:26:54.025-06:00Tom Green County... A fine cesspool if there ever...Tom Green County... A fine cesspool if there ever was one. This is truly the land where the ignorant can reign over anyone not part of the ignorant culture. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-73326480181214639942017-02-21T06:25:18.723-06:002017-02-21T06:25:18.723-06:00Can doctors send in a swab for free to a state lab...Can doctors send in a swab for free to a state lab? If the police can use a state service such as that I wonder if a state lab for doctors is avalible? Collecting information is big business. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-20528619949276363062017-02-20T11:32:16.004-06:002017-02-20T11:32:16.004-06:00Most Trace Evidence analysis results are not worth...Most Trace Evidence analysis results are not worth having anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-74046245024110597672017-02-20T08:54:26.674-06:002017-02-20T08:54:26.674-06:00I wonder how many other counties in Texas do the s...I wonder how many other counties in Texas do the same thing? Is it possible to get a count? I'm thinking Tom Green might also use the Lubbock DPS. As a tax payer I don't like paying for the counties lack of efficiency and the ordering of tests that are not necessary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-234117566086242322017-02-19T23:10:07.466-06:002017-02-19T23:10:07.466-06:00Lubbock CO pays their medical examiner $505,972.48...Lubbock CO pays their medical examiner $505,972.48 a year, almost $200,000 more than Harris CO pays their medical examiner, and the Lubbock ME isn't even legal. Pretty clear Lubbock has to rely on freebies to plug the hole in the budget.dfishernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-19262571624701607322017-02-19T15:02:46.861-06:002017-02-19T15:02:46.861-06:00How does the legislature budget this expense? By w...How does the legislature budget this expense? By way of taxes and user fees paid to the state by city and county residents?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com